Don't panic, even if the enemy is double.
This is, in essence, the message to take away from Olivier Véran's passage on France info this Friday morning.
"The urgency is the fifth wave, but the urgency is also to slow down the progression of the Omicron variant", asked the Minister of Health from the outset, confirming that nine cases had so far been detected in France.
"This variant has probably been circulating for several weeks," he added, as the hunt for patient zero continues.
A peak at the end of December or at the end of January
Olivier Véran has especially expressed himself a lot on the current fifth wave.
“A patient is admitted to intensive care every 10 minutes.
We are well beyond the fourth wave and in the process of reaching the peak of the third wave, ”he explained on France Info.
To read also "Do not make a mistake with your enemy": in the midst of the Omicron threat, where is the 5th wave of the Delta variant?
The minister also assured that the current figures were very close to the projections made by the Institut Pasteur.
"If nothing changes, the peak would be reached at the end of January only", he said, adding that there were two solutions to slow down this progression: the recall of the vaccination against the Covid-19 on the one hand and the compliance with barrier measures on the other hand.
"If we change our daily behavior, we can reduce the progression of the virus by 10, 15, 20%," commented the Minister of Health.
This would allow the peak to be brought forward to the end of December.
Clearly, "the peak can be at the end of January, at a very high level, or at the end of December, at a moderately high level," he summed up.
Vaccines available by mid-January
Olivier Véran also returned to the opening of the vaccination booster for all adults and the deadlines linked to the health pass - it is subject to the booster for those over 65 from December 15 and for 18-64 year olds on January 15.
Asked about the difficulty in finding an appointment before February or even March in places, the minister once again assured that everyone could receive their dose by mid-January.
“We have enough RNA vaccines today to immunize everyone.
We are not dependent on deliveries, ”he first explained, before ensuring that“ 600,000 to 700,000 new slots ”open every day.
"That those who are worried about not having a slot before March in their region at present be reassured: they will be vaccinated before January 15", he insisted.
"We have enough messenger RNA vaccines to vaccinate everyone so we are not dependent on future deliveries" "every day there are 600 to 700,000 vaccination slots that open", assures Olivier Véran pic. twitter.com/VtmhFgayoG
- franceinfo (@franceinfo) December 3, 2021
He also said that the over 65s were "prioritized" in making appointments, especially via a skip-the-line number.
Increasingly busy hospitals
If he assured that the time was "certainly not in panic", Olivier Véran still recognized that the situation for hospitals - with the places available in intensive care in particular - was different from the first wave since the 'epidemic "is rising everywhere in France, it is a parameter which does not play in our favor".
Not to mention that there is, in addition, "care which has been deprogrammed and which can no longer be".
This implies that white plans are likely to multiply across the territory in the coming weeks.
"We want to avoid again restrictive measures", concluded the minister, assuring that we had "the means to ensure that Christmas takes place under the best conditions".